Beatles Album Deep Dive #1: Meet The Beatles!

[@Americanasam1994]

Fantastic break down Jeff. You always teach me something on these deep dives.

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Thanks Sam!

[@dennydriverstudio]

I could listen to you (or most anyone else) talk about the Beatles all day long. Great start to a new series. I look forward to the next one.

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Thanks Denny!

[@vikingbrace]

Wow this is a great comprehensive video! Really nice deep dive. Definitely learning here!

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Thanks Gary!

[@cataractman1]

Jeff, great analysis. Thank you. Please don’t stop!

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Thank you!

[@twofromthetrunk9932]

I enjoyed your video. So many things I didn’t know. I could remember which album came first. You did a great job. Looking forward for more.

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Thank you Tony!

[@theflipside-vinylcommunity]

I am such a novice when it comes to this. Thank you for this series

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

You are welcome bro!

[@ChrisPropfeMusicallyObsessed]

I have to spin this album again. I haven’t listened to the album in full in a long time. I tend to go to the later Beatles albums. Great video, brother!

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Thank you Chris! The early stuff is enjoyable in its own way but I do prefer their later albums.

[@marcusthompson5390]

Just shows how The Beatles have the strongest catalogue out of anyone in music history. Many people gravitate towards the later stuff and many people gravitate towards the early stuff, without there ever being a dip in quality between the eras. Meet the Beatles is a early showing of how many classic songs they wrote early on in their career before they even reached their peak years of songwriting.

[@RichStrickler]

Cool stuff Jeff. The first album I ever owned was Introducing The Beatles. My mom bought it for me in 1964, shortly after seeing them on The Ed Sullivan Show. I was 7 years old, and have been a Beatles fan since. Awesome video!!!

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Thanks Rich! Introducing the Beatles was one of my earliest Beatles albums also. I definitely owned it before the Early Beatles.

[@aaronmuthaalamare4165]

Killer video Jeff! You have many copies! I only have an early mono! Great job brother 👍🤘🤘

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Thanks Aaron! Whenever I see a copy in good condition I can’t resist picking it up.

[@stonefree67]

Being absolutely indifferent to The Beatles i still enjoyed this video,very interesting in fact! Thanks for sharing the info!

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Thanks Jan! 😃

[@theflipside-vinylcommunity]

It’s amazing that this happened will never see anything like this again

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Agreed!

[@NadirJones71]

Thanks Jeff for trying to explain the convoluted US album release story to me.....I've never quite gotten my head around it!

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

It’s almost as confusing as The Rolling Stones U.S catalog!

[@dannymarz2568]

MEET the BEATLES shook America like an EARTHQUAKE!! And anybody alive back in 1964 who see's this album cover is taken back to that winter when it was released, it was an EVENT , as all their records were! NOBODY ever had a more potent debut album!

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

I agree! No debut had the impact this album did. 👍👍

[@happyhippythevinylguy]

Great video my friend I'm going to have to go and check and see what pressing mine is..LoL ✌️🎸

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Thanks Rod! 😀

[@DetroitStars]

Meet the Beatles came out when I was in the 5th grade, and I remember asking for and getting a copy of it for Christmas. But back then, my favorite band would change like the flavor of the month. A very astute classmate at the time asked who I thought would be more popular in the future: The Beatles, or The Dave Clark Five? The DC5 were my then current favorites due to a recent appearance on Ed Sullivan, so I answered: The Dave Clark Five. I couldn't have been more wrong.

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

I think for a brief period (before people realized the Beatles were more than a fad) the Dave Clark Five were favorites of many music fans. They even had a movie!

[@mistery-ed7900]

Great video and it'll make a great series! I was 9. I bought the single of Hold Your Hand but didn't get the album right away. Got the Second Album first and then this one. Was a Beatlemaniac and so was all my friends and we all got the 45s and albums. I don't have my original copy. Replaced it years ago with another mono first pressing. My parents were instant fans also.

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Those early Capitol albums hold such great memories for me. I almost prefer them to the official releases.

[@johnw706]

Yes , I like the idea of this series . As in the USA, The Beatles’ releases in Canada were marketed by Capitol. Unlike America, however, Capitol in Canada issued the group’s recordings from early 1963. The first three Canadian albums were different from the US releases, although from the A Hard Day’s Night soundtrack onwards they were largely identical. In 1968 Capitol Canada released three early US LPs in stereo to replace these. Albums Beatlemania! With The Beatles 25 November 1963😮 It Won’t Be Long’ ‘All I’ve Got To Do’ ‘All My Loving’ ‘Don’t Bother Me’ ‘Little Child’ ‘Till There Was You’ ‘Please Mister Postman’ ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ ‘Hold Me Tight’ ‘You Really Got A Hold On Me’ ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ ‘Devil In Her Heart’ ‘Not A Second Time’ ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’. By the way , check out Robert Palmer’s cover of Not a Second Time . I like it a lot . I look forward to the next instalment. Cheers !

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Thank you! I had no idea Robert Palmer covered that song. Awesome!

[@johnw706]

@@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486 Yes , it's on his Clues album , which features Gary Numan on some the tracks , including his great cover of Numan's own song : I Dream of Wires . Give it a listen , it's great . Thanks !

[@750drums]

"Different marketing strategy back then, for the UK and US markets for all the English groups. Introducing .." was a pretty good lp, almost mirrored Please Please Me. Really good audio, especially compared to the lousy ,reverb drenched sound of the Capitol records ." Bought both shortly after they came out . Meet..." was fine at the time, but like the rest of the Capitol Catalog, for me, became obsolete once we had access to the UK albums. around 1969. Great video, Jeff. Would love to see you do some of the other British Invasion groups lps.

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Thanks David! I may tackle The Rolling Stones next…

[@750drums]

@@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486 That would be most welcomed, Jeff. London did the same thing to the Stones catalog that Capitol did to the Beatles. Look forward to hearing your take on those.

[@NorthernRevolutions]

Hey Jeff. Great video. Ive got first pressings of the US Capitol albums, the Canadian Capitol albums (which are different) and original UK pressings. That said, I hope nothing except the UK versions get reissued. Obviously, I have no sentimental connection to either or as they were released 15 yrs before I was born. I prefer the UK versions only because that is how the band intended the music to be released. I like this series though Jeff. Keep it going. I did something similar comparing the Canadian albums to the UK releases.

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Nice! I need to get some more Canadian pressings! Right now I only have Long Tall Sally and Yesterday and Today. Would love to pick up Twist and Shout and Beatlemania.

[@NorthernRevolutions]

@@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486 I will keep on the lookout for them. I see them all the time. What pressing do you want?

[@jeff901]

If you have an early pressing of MTB without the ASCAP or BMI credits on the labels, they are worth quite a bit.

[@COBBETT1215]

Interesting for a Brit to get to hear the Capitol Beatle albums reviewed from an American perspective. I purchased all their Capitol albums out of curiosity some time ago, when they were re-issued in England on CD. Personally I tend to prefer the mixes on the US albums. I believe some US artists such as Dion Demucci were critical of the sound quality of the Beatles early albums. The band themselves were always pushing the Parlophone technicians to increase the bass in the mix because they envied the richness of the bass on Motown records. As to their decision not to include their singles on their British LP's, George Martin is quoted as saying that the band made that decision because they didn't want the fans to pay twice for a song they already had on a single. That's admirable of course, but it did mean that for later generations those albums would have been even greater with the classic singles as part of the playlist. For example, Rubber Soul with Day Tripper and We can work it out included.

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Thanks John! I agree there is a certain punchiness to the Capitol stereo mixes on the early records. Songs like She’s A Woman and I Feel Fine in particular benefit from the extra reverb.

[@vinylrichie007]

Agree, I prefer Meet The Beatles.

[@David-hz1rj]

Another great review Jeff !!you are the best!! But I think the Monkees were better than the Beatles!!

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Thank you! I have no quarrel with that. 😃

[@charlesbronson4282]

A masterpiece. Except for maybe the second side. It kinda teeters off....but that first side sure packs a punch

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Absolutely!

[@johnlorinc2081]

I grew up with the US versions, so Meet the Beatles was one of the first albums that introduced me to the Fabs. Yes, MTB is a hodge-podge......but it's hard to argue with the one-two punch of I Want to Hold Your Hand and I Saw Her Standing There. I mean, really.....if your heartbeat doesn't start racing, check your pulse. But in a head-to-head face-off, I think With the Beatles is the better version. Part of that is because it has more songs than the chintzy 12 songs on MTB. Regardless.....it's the Beatles, how can you go wrong? Even the "bad" songs.....like the clunky-but-likable Hold Me Tight or Ringo's I Wanna Be Your Man are fun. George's Don't Bother Me (great guitar) is pretty impressive for a debut. I would have axed Till There Was You. I like some of Paul's "granny music" but not this time. And closing with Lennon's moody Not a Second Time is effective. Tangent: Lennon quote (probably not verbatim) about I Wanna Be Your Man: "The only two versions of that song were Ringo and the Rolling Stones. We weren't going to give them anything great, right?" Great video once again!

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Thanks John! Meet the Beatles is a much more enjoyable listen than With the Beatles. Something truly joyous and infectious about the songs and performances that makes the album timeless.

[@avlisk]

I've watched a few of your videos now, and see that you collect vinyl, cassette, and CD, but so far, no 8-Track. As a guy who chose 8-Track over cassette, (remember the Pioneer Supertuner II ?), I'm wondering, what's up with that? Thanks.

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

I have about ten 8 tracks but no room to build a more sizable collection.

[@scottbubb2946]

To this day it bothers me that, in England, they didn't put the singles on the albums. That just seems so counter-intuituative. Not sure what the reasoning behind it was. Maybe it's because I was raised to regard greed as a virtue. 🤣

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

I think the stubbornness of this “no singles on albums’ policy did them a disservice in many ways. 👍

[@beatleman69]

Jeff, keep on truckin' with this series! BTW the way it was George's "Within You-Without Out You" from Sgt Pepper where he opened side 2.

[@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486]

Yeah I thought of that when it was too late! 😩

[@beatleman69]

@@jeffwhitchervinyldestinati4486 Hey it happens